I spent several years of my career in the uncomfortable role of middle manager. On one side, I had executives asking me why my team couldn’t “do more,” and on the other side, my employees told me they were stretched too thin.
It was an endless tug-of-war. I was both the enforcer of company expectations and the advocate for my team’s needs. At times, my role felt at complete odds with itself. Executives push for efficiency and growth, while employees look for empathy and stability.
Middle management, understandably, feels like a pressure cooker.
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The shifting role of middle management
My role as a middle manager was many years ago. Today’s middle managers have the added pressure of potentially becoming obsolete. Big companies like Amazon, Google, and Citigroup have opted to make their management teams leaner. Not to mention the looming threat of AI.
With flattening org charts and AI-driven efficiencies, the role of middle management has changed. They’re no longer the roles that “keep things moving.” Instead, they’re responsible for people: managing culture and communication across departments and locations.
Yet even though the expectations and job descriptions have changed, many of the underlying limitations of middle management haven’t. Middle managers often have limited authority to implement changes. Yet, somehow, they have unlimited accountability for outcomes.
Unlimited accountability that often leads to burnout, especially when managing people. I spoke to one former middle manager who said that she felt like she had to compensate for her employer’s unsustainable growth practices. “I had to choose between screwing people over or shielding my team,” she said. “It was emotionally draining.” Eventually, she quit and took a new job as a non-manager.
The reimagined role of middle management
To survive in the new world of middle management, you have to acknowledge that you’ll mostly be a people-manager rather than a task-manager.
To succeed in this type of role, you’ll need to do all of the following:
Set the right expectations with upper management, making your team’s bandwidth and capabilities clear.
Push back strategically and learn to frame conversations around outcomes (“If we do X, here is the impact on Y”).
Protect your team’s trust by being transparent, admitting the limitations of your authority, and advocating for fair workloads.
Protect your own boundaries by caring for your team without carrying the burden of everyone’s problems.
For many companies, middle management is the only way to get ahead (and earn more money). Yet it’s an increasingly risky role for companies that see the job only as task-based, not people-based. Those employers are most likely to lay off managers during rough economic times or when AI can replace tasks.
Take on a middle manager role with your eyes fully open. If the company doesn’t value a people-based role, you might want to find a new job elsewhere. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself underappreciated, constantly pulled in different directions, and at risk for losing your job.
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